A South San Francisco child care center plans to almost double capacity

The updated preschool would be able to serve 100 students ages 2 to 5 years old and have six classrooms — five indoor and one outdoor.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans during a meeting Feb. 19, noting the increasing demand for child care despite minimal growth in the number of slots. 

“Every little bit is going to help. It’s not going to solve our problem, but the demand keeps getting greater because our community is growing,” Commissioner Sam Shihadeh said during the meeting. 

South City isn’t unique in its lack of child care availability. San Mateo recently approved two new preschools, giving hope to nearby parents who have difficulty securing spots, especially those who require flexible pickup and drop-off hours. 

According to county data, there are about 9,000 children who need but cannot access care, with thousands of families on waitlists.

The proposal comes at a time when the county is ramping up discussions on potential ballot measures and policy changes that would expand child care subsidies for middle-income families, streamline the child care application process and boost wages for child care workers. 

Currently, the vast majority of child care subsidies are state-funded and as such, only families making up to 85% of California’s median income — about $93,000 for a family of three — typically qualify. That hurts expensive counties particularly hard like San Mateo County, where the median annual cost of preschool-aged care costs about $25,000 per year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. 

“This is a small step, but I think it’s an important step to moving forward,” Commissioner John Baker said of the Westborough Preschool project.